#398 Hippopotamus - Auckland Zoo (New Zealand)

The hippopotamus, or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse", is a large herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa. Hippos can stay underwater for at least five minutes. They close their earflaps as they go underwater. Hippos cannot float, heavy muscles weigh them down, so they either walk along the bottom or paddle to stay afloat. A hippo's mouth can open up to 150 degrees; this makes an awesome sight and an even better bucket for scooping up and throwing water at other hippos.